The Coming Massive Mobile Disruption

Crazy insights in the Wall Street Journal the other day, which highlighted some new Google products — and some impressive data about mobile,

“[Google VP of Product Management Jerry] Dischler said Google searches on mobile devices now outnumber those on personal computers in 10 countries, including the U.S. and Japan.”

Take a moment and let that sink in. Mobile searches now outnumber those on desktop computers. In 10 countries. While Google didn’t list all ten, the US and Japan’s inclusion on the list makes it fairly safe to assume that they’ll include other advanced economies such as Germany, the UK, China, France, Brazil, etc.

Another key quote says,

“…mobile users spend more time in specialized apps, such as Amazon.com for products or Yelp for local businesses, than in a Web browser. That’s spurring Google to provide quicker answers to mobile-search queries.

Dischler said patterns are changing as users hop among devices. ‘It’s more of a swirl, with people browsing on phones, getting on their desktop at work, then their tablet at home, then purchasing through a store visit or on a phone call,’ he said.”

This mirrors a point I made a couple weeks ago, that Google is struggling to maintain its dominance as consumers shift to mobile (actually, they’ve been facing this problem for a while). It’s also further evidence that mobile commerce is here to stay.

Google’s going to face some significant challenges unless it can either: a.) monetize mobile apps more effectively, or b.) encourage more mobile web searches/fewer app searches. The data also underscores how quickly consumers have adopted mobile — and how much room still exists for positive growth.

This massive mobile shift will disrupt many industries — including yours. Someone will profit from that disruption. Google’s struggling to adapt, but is clearly making the effort to get ahead of the game. Why don’t you do the same?

Do you want learn even more about how your customers’ changing behavior shapes e-commerce and marketing? Be sure an register to receive a special report I’ve produced in conjunction with hotel marketing firm Vizergy, “Digital Hotel Marketing in a Multiscreen World.” While it’s targeted specifically at hotel and resort marketers, the lessons apply to just about any business. You can get your free copy of the report here.

You can also check out these slides I had the pleasure of speaking to a great audience recently about how to lead digital transformation within large organizations (a topic we’ve been talking about a fair bit lately). Here are the slides for your reference:

And, finally, you might want to take a look at some of our past coverage of the e-commerce, mobile commerce, and digital marketing overall, including:

• 10 Key Posts about Millennials and Mobile: E-commerce Link Digest
• The Secrets Behind “It’s All E-commerce” for 2014
• The Zen of Digital Marketing Strategy
• 7 Steps to E-Commerce Heaven
• Today and Tomorrow: Mobile and The Changing Customer Journey
• Mobile Makes E-commerce Even More “Frictionless”
• Your 2014 Internet Marketing New Year’s Resolutions – Thinks Out Loud Episode 56